hat should you be doing as a Manager who is transitioning / managing in an Agile environment? Learn an exercise you can do with your Managers to help them determine what their role is in a changing Agile environment.

1. Steve Martin, PMI-ACP, PMP
Senior Program Manager - Methodology &
Governance
Managers and the Land of the Lost

2. Objectives
 Learn a framework you can apply with your
Management team for greater role clarity
 Recognize common challenges to Managers
in Agile environments today
 Understand several leadership characteristics
Managers should consider

3. Agenda
 Challenges for today’s Managers
 Roles & Responsibilities Exercise:
 Part 1 : What are you doing
now?
 Where should Managers focus?
 Roles & Responsibilities Exercise:
 Part 2: What should you be
doing?
 Part 3: Becoming Less Lost
 Q&A

4. Framing expectations…
 We will be talking
about Management
concepts within the
context of Agile
environments
 Biggest take-away will
be the framework
we’re going to mock
through today

5. Couple housekeeping tips
 Highly interactive with your table-mates
 You’ll get more out the more you put in
 Please feel free to ask questions
 May use a Parking Lot since time is limited
 For an electronic copy of this slide deck:
 Connect (stevemartinpmp) via LinkedIn
 Leave your card/contact info

6. TODAY’S MANAGERS

7. What do I mean by Manager?
Tactical.
Awesome Execution.
Strategic.
Visionary.
Enabler.
Translator.

8. Small Group Exercise
 Use the index cards & sharpie pens.
Think of a time when you had
a really amazing Manager.
 As an individual, write on your sticky
note:
What characteristic did they have
that resonated with you the most?
 One characteristic per card, please…
 As group/table, share. (Keep at
headlines)
 Time box: 3 mins total

9. So what’s going on
with Managers today,
then?

10. There is guidance for Team members
roles, for example, in Scrum
 Voice of
Customers
 Owns and
Prioritizes
Product
Backlog
 “What” not
“How”
 Is a facilitator,
not a PM
 Ensures
Scrum
followed
 Removes
Blockers
 Servant
Leader
Product Owner ScrumMaster
 Create high
quality product
 Size the work
 Pulls in work
 Commit to the
work
Team

11. There’s guidance for Executives in
Agile

13. ROLES &
RESPONSIBILITIES (PART
1)

14. Exercise: Roles & Responsibilities –
Part 1
 Your table is now a mind-melded manager brain trust
 As a group, brainstorm all your current job
responsibilities on small stickies
 Only 1 responsibility per sticky
(we’ll be moving the stickies around later)
 Just throw them in the center as you brainstorm. Be
vocal.
 Be as comprehensive & complete as possible
 Include both official and unofficial responsibilities
 Time box for this workshop: 3 mins

15. Example Output: Roles & Responsibilities –
Part 1
 You will end up with a
bunch of stickies
 One activity/task per sticky
 Stick them on a sheet of
large paper or on the wall

16. Typical examples of current Manager
responsibilities
 Plan budgets
 Track and manage to
budgets
 Keep track of what all my
staff are doing
 Define metrics for my staff
 Collect metrics/data from my
staff
 Provide weekly status report
to my Management
 Make commitments for my
staff to Management
 Make sure staff get their
work done
 Participate in standups
 Remove staff members who
are not doing well with a team
 Hold weekly staff meeting
 Hold weekly 1:1’s with my
staff
 Do annual performance
evaluations
 Perform career
development/guidance to staff
 Recruit, interview, and hire
new staff

17. WHAT SHOULD
MANAGERS
BE FOCUSED ON?

18. Do we even
need Managers
in the first
place?

19. Project Oxygen at Google
 Applied Google’s strengths in data and analysis over
multiple years regarding management.
 Concluded that Managers indeed mattered.
 Employees with high scoring bosses consistently
reported greater satisfaction in multiple areas,
including innovation, work-life balance, and career
development.
Source: Garvin, David A., “How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management”,
Harvard Business Review, Dec 2013.

20. 8 Behaviors shared by high-scoring
Managers
1. Is a good coach
2. Empowers the team and
does not micromanage
3. Expresses interest in and
concern for team
members’ success and
personal well-being
4. Is productive and results-
oriented
5. Is a good communicator—
listens and shares
information
6. Helps with career
development
7. Has a clear vision and
strategy for the team
8. Has key technical skills
that help him or her advise
the team
Source: Garvin, David A., “How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management”,
Harvard Business Review, Dec 2013.

21. Project Oxygen at Google
“Although people are always
looking for the next new
thing in leadership, Google’s
data suggest that not much
has changed in terms of
what makes for an
effective leader.”
Source: Bryant, Adam, “Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss”, The New York
Times,
March 12, 2011.

22. Use an Agile approach to being a
Manager
 There is no silver bullet, no comprehensive list of
“do this” or “do that.”
 Must use an Agile approach to Management:
 Experiment.
 Inspect. Adapt.
 Be transparent.
 Find what resonates with your teams and your
organization.
 There are some fantastic resources out there to
help you figure it out. (See appendix)

23. Some considerations for today’s
Managers
1. Servant Leadership
2. Motivation
3. Leadership Agility
 Participatory Management
4. Designing the organizational environment

24. What is Servant Leadership?
“A servant-leader focuses primarily
on the growth and well-being of
people and the communities to
which they belong. While traditional
leadership generally involves the
accumulation and exercise of power
by one at the ‘top of the pyramid,’
servant leadership is different. The
servant-leader shares power, puts
the needs of others first and helps
people develop and perform as
highly as possible.”

25. Benefits from Servant Leadership
 For an organization1:
– 15-20% increase in business performance
– 20-25% increase in group productivity
– Consistently appear in best 100 corporations to work for
 For an individual2:
– Tend to be more highly regarded
– Greater productivity – they are “connected” to get things
done
– Since they share, are also great beneficiaries of
knowledge
1. Wong, Dr. Paul T. P. and Davey, Dean (2007, July). Best Practices in Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership Research

26. Which of these behaviors tend to be
examples of Servant Leaders?
1. Is a good coach
2. Empowers the team and
does not micromanage
3. Expresses interest in and
concern for team
members’ success and
personal well-being
4. Is productive and results-
oriented
5. Is a good communicator—
listens and shares
information
6. Helps with career
development
7. Has a clear vision and
strategy for the team
8. Has key technical skills
that help him or her advise
the team
Source: Garvin, David A., “How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management”,
Harvard Business Review, Dec 2013.

27. Motivation
 People can accomplish much
more when inspired by a
purpose beyond themselves
 How do you as a Manager
help create the environment
by which:
 Less Carrots and Sticks
 Greater sense of:
 Autonomy
 Mastery
 Purpose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuF

29. Agile Leadership Principles
Progressing through the five levels
of Leadership Agility
 Each level reflects a greater capacity to deal with
complexity and rapid change.
 Each level builds upon, but expands the range of mental
and leadership capability over the lower levels.
* Joiner et al briefly mentions Pre-expert level in book; dives deeper into levels starting
with Expert.
Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change
Pre-
Expert*
Expert
Achiever
Catalyst
Co-
creator
Synergist

30. Cheat sheet for three of the Levels
Level Headline Example behaviors / quotes
Expert
(45%)
Do what I say • I’m a fantastic fire fighter; I get things done
• We can innovate after we get under control
• Let’s review reds/yellows in your status
report
Achieve
r
(35%)
Influence for what
I want
• I used to be a fire-fighter; now, I look at how
problems are related
• What do you think about … ? (getting buy-
in)
• Let’s find a common starting point and see
where we go from there
Catalyst
(5%)
Collaborative.
Facilitative.
Creates highly
participative
• I know I don’t have all the answers, but I
know I can get a group of talented folks to
figure it out
• Here’s the problem and the outcome weBill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change

31. Idea to transition up from Expert
Level:
Participatory Management
 Run the team as an Agile team
 Manager becomes “Product Owner”
 Create backlog with your staff
 Prioritize
 Make work visible (Trello, Physical Board,
etc.)
 Limit WIP
 Hold “stand-ups” several times per week
 Traditional 3 questions
 Staff pull-in work vs be assigned
 Ties back into Pink’s Motivation

32. Focus on the Environment

33. Focus on the Environment
In an agile organization, the
job of leadership and
management shifts from
managing individuals and
teams… …to managing, and
continuously improving, the
organizational
environments in which
individuals and teams
operate.

34. Some examples of increasing
focus on the Environment
 Create value stream maps from concept to
release.
 Help resolve roadblocks and reduce waste
within and between your area(s) of focus
 Facilitate cross-functional centers of excellence
 Could be focused on quality, continuous
delivery, coding, Scrum Masters, Product
Owners, etc.
 Ensure constructive physical environment (or
approximate co-location if virtual)
 Participatory Management (previous slide)

35. OK. SO NOW WHAT?

36. Exercise: Roles & Responsibilities –
Part 2
 Write down what you should be
(or want to be) doing on small
stickies
 Only 1 responsibility per sticky
(we’ll be moving them around
later)
 Typically involves things you
should/want to do, but don’t
have the time to do
 Considering topics just covered,
add to “characteristics of inspiring
managers” from first exercise on
index cards

38. ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
(PART 3)

40. Exercise: Roles & Responsibilities –
Part 3
 Create 2 sections.
 Put “characteristics of great
managers” index cards at top.
 Move smaller stickies into the
appropriate sections.
 Add new stickies as needed
 Prioritize:
 Move higher value activities
towards the top of your sheet
of paper
 Move lower value activities
towards the bottom…
 Time box: 4 mins
Keep/Start Doing
Stop Doing / Delegate
1 2 43

41. WRAP UP

42. Additional References to
Consider

43. Additional References to
Consider

44. Additional Articles
 Rigby, Sutherland, Takeuchi, “Embracing
Agile”, Harvard Business Review, May 2016.
 Linders, Ben, “The Role of an Agile Manager”,
InfoQ article, posted Sep 18, 2015.
 Atkins, Lyssa and Spayd, Michael, “The
Manager's Role in Agile”, Scrum Alliance
article, posted July 23 2008

45. Objectives
 Learn a framework you can apply with your
Management team for greater role clarity
 Recognize common challenges to Managers
in Agile environments today
 Understand several leadership characteristics
Managers should consider

46. Q & A
 Steve Martin
www.linkedin.com/in/stevemartinpm
p

47. APPENDIX

48. THREE-TIER MODEL OF ROLES NEEDED FOR AGILE TRANSFORMATION
ROLE TYPICAL TITLES FOCUS AREAS
Executives Leaders of the
organization, such
as:
• C-levels
• Executive Vice
Presidents
• Managing
Directors
• Set vision, guideposts, and culture for
Agile transformation
o Is consistent and transparent on why
they are doing what they are doing
o Empower Management and Agile
Teams, then get out of the way
• Renegotiate contracts and relationships
with their customers’ Executives
Managemen
t
Typically directly
manages staff on
teams
• Associate Vice
Presidents
• Directors
• Senior Managers
• Paves road for smoother Team
execution by removing organization-wide
blockers
o Empower Teams, then get out of the
way
o Regularly shows up to reviews and are
“present” to give valued feedback
Agile Teams Individual
contributors
• Deliver high valued, high quality working
product
• Alter direction as needed based upon
feedback from stakeholders